Cbanker: Russian insurance market unattractive to investors

MOSCOW, May 20 (PRIME) -- The Russian insurance market is not attractive to investors now, Igor Zhuk, head of the central bank’s insurance market department, said Friday at a meeting at the State Duma, the parliament’s lower house.

“It would be great if we talked about investment attractiveness of the insurance sector. Because is its critical, as there are no Russian or foreign investors that are running into the insurance (market),” he said, adding that the market should clear itself from bad companies and transparent conditions for its development should be introduced.

The central bank’s First Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov said at the meeting that violations of competition led to a shortage of inflows of high-quality capital into the sector. “It is not a good competition when we allow weak… companies to service citizens…Companies without capital are allowed to operate. And if they have no capital – they may start dumping,” he said.

Zhuk added that less than 300 companies are now operating at the Russian market, and about 100 of them have assets of low quality and should confirm that they have at least initial possibilities to engage in insurance.

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